


Make It Stop

by cvsossong



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bullying, Gen, Protective Bucky Barnes, Teen Peter, fight bullies with kindness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 22:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2166720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cvsossong/pseuds/cvsossong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter is bullied in high school, so Bucky steps in and teaches him a lesson in self defense.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make It Stop

Peter dropped his backpack on the ground and collapsed face first into the sofa. Bucky watched him burrow into the cushions and curl onto his side and sighed. He’d seen Steve do that same thing when they’d been younger. It usually meant trouble.

“Something wrong, kid?” he asked, flipping another page of his book. The rest of the team was out on a quick rescue mission in Nebraska, and Bucky had offered to stay behind and wait for Peter to get home from high school.

“Leave me alone,” was Peter’s muffled response. Definitely not good.

“You know, if you don’t talk it out it gets bottled up and then you turn into Clint. Or Natasha. Really it could go either direction, but either way it’s not pretty. Not that Tash isn’t pretty, of course, but a squirt like you couldn’t pull off the ‘deadly Russian assassin who bakes cookies and shit’ look.”

“Don’t you ever stop talking?” Peter shot up and glared at Bucky.

Bucky shrugged, unfazed. “Not usually. Ask your Pop. And by the way, yelling doesn’t exactly solidify the whole ‘there’s nothing wrong’ bit.”

He watched from the corner of his eye as Peter seemed to deflate, flopping back on the couch and staring up at the ceiling. “Sorry,” he heard him mumble.

“Takes a lot more than that to hurt my feelings, kid. But you really should talk about it.”

Peter was silent for a long moment. Bucky flipped another page.

“I’m not going back to school.” Peter whispered it so quietly Bucky had to lean in to hear him.

“And why is that? You realize your life- long dream is flipping burgers at a greasy diner?”

“I just… I can’t.” Peter flopped back on his stomach and curled into a pillow.

“Use your words, bud. Why can’t you go back to school? Allergy to chalk? Teacher seduced you? Math kicking your ass already?”

“It’s not math that’s doing that,” Peter mumbled.

The room was silent for a long time.

“Kid, are you being bullied?” Bucky finally asked. He shut his book and leaned his elbows on his knees.

Peter shrugged into the pillow.

“Peter Benjamin Rogers- Stark, if you don’t answer me…”

“Yes, alright?” Peter cried. He sat up, hugging the pillow to his chest, and glared at the fringe on the edges.

Bucky rubbed his forehead. “How long have they been picking on you?” he asked finally.

“About two weeks. It’s this one kid, Flash, and his buddies.” Peter punched the pillow. “They call me freak and push me into lockers and one tripped me in the hall and I just can’t go back there, okay?”

Bucky stayed silent again for a bit. Finally he pushed himself up with a groan and slapped Peter’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.” Peter frowned but stood to follow him down the elevator and into the gym.

Bucky pushed him gently towards the center of the boxing ring and settled into a quick defensive position. “Pay attention,” he ordered. Peter watched him warily while Bucky threw a quick elbow out and swung his leg down low in rapid succession. “Now you try.”

“Uncle Bucky, I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Peter protested.

“Trust me, it won’t hurt the kid. Permanently, at least.” Bucky straightened himself out and turned to face Peter. “I spent years, and I mean _years_ , teaching your pop how to hold himself in a fight. He couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut, used to get in all kinds of trouble with people a lot bigger than him. I couldn’t always be there, so I used to show him a couple of moves that would bring down an attacker without doing any lasting harm. Just enough to make a point, right?”

“You don’t get it.” Peter slumped back against the ropes. “He’ll just get up. He’s big, and tough, and nothing I do is gonna take him down and keep him down.”

“Just try the move, okay?” Bucky insisted.

“Look, why do you even care so much?”

“Because you’re important to me, Peter!” Bucky shouted. He stopped himself and sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Look, I don’t like bullies. I used to have to sit back and watch your pop get beat up over and over because he couldn’t stand down from a fight and wouldn’t let me fight for him. Now you’re here and I can at least show you a move or two to keep you from ending up shoved against a wall or beaten to a pulp or whatever the hell it is bullies do these days.”

Peter was quiet. Then, slowly, he pushed himself off the ropes and joined Bucky in the center of the ring.

“I just don’t want to hurt anyone,” he said quietly.

“The kid’s hurting you, right?”

“That’s not a reason to hurt him back.”

Bucky crossed his arms. “And why do you think that is?”

Peter shrugged. “He might have his own stuff to deal with. Maybe his dad’s a jerk to him or his mom’s died or he lost his dog or something.”

“So how do you propose to fight against a kid that’s going through a tough time like that?”

Peter looked out, across the gym. “I guess… I’d talk to him,” he said finally. “Just, you know, say that I get it. I miss Uncle Ben sometimes, a lot, and Aunt May ‘cause I never see her, and my other parents, my biological ones, they’re gone, too. So if he’s lost something, I’d… I’d tell him I get it.”

Bucky uncrossed his arms and slapped Peter’s shoulder. “There you go,” he said with a small grin. Peter’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Wait, you don’t want me to fight him?”

Bucky snorted. “Are you kidding me? Squirt your size, he’d beat you into the dust. Just like they did with your pop. But he figured out that sometimes he could just talk to the kid, figure out what the problem behind it was. Nobody’s a bully just ‘cause it feels good, kid.” Bucky pushed Peter towards the edge of the ring and crouched next to him when Peter sat down. “Everyone’s got some shit in their lives, and some people can’t hold it in so they take it out on others. And it sucks, especially for the other kid since he didn’t do anything wrong, but the best way to stop it is to make the bully… well, basically, feel guilty. About pushing you around.”

“And what if that doesn’t work?”

Bucky shrugged. “You call me and I come kick his ass.”

Peter kicked his feet. “I don’t want you fighting my battles for me,” he said quietly.

“That’s what your pop said, all the time. You’ll get over it eventually.” Bucky nudged Peter’s shoulder. “It’s okay to ask for help every once in a while.”

They sat that way for a long time, silent and pensive. Finally, Peter sighed and nodded. “Okay, Uncle Buck.”

\--------------------

Two weeks later, Bucky was finishing up his book when Peter walked in looking bashful. Bucky immediately closed his book.

“What’s up, squirt?” he asked. Peter shrugged and sat on the couch, crossing his legs underneath him.

“I… umm, I talked to Flash. The kid that was picking on me?” he started. When Bucky nodded, Peter continued, “And I just… I told him what you told me, you know? That I got why he did it, and whatever was happening to him must suck, and… well, he apologized.”

“That’s great, kid!” Bucky clapped his shoulder and Peter grinned.

“Yeah, well, we talked for a really long time, and just… what was going on, with our lives. And we found out that we actually have a lot in common, and… umm… he… heaskedmeonadateandIsaidyesandwe’regoingtoamovieonFriday.” Peter finished with a huff and buried his head in a pillow.

Bucky blinked. And blinked again. “I don’t ever remember your pop _dating_ one of the kids that picked on him,” he said finally. “So I can’t help you there.”

“That’s okay, I’ll ask Uncle Clint to help. I just… I wanted to say thanks,” Peter mumbled. “For… you know… for helping me. For telling me to stand up to him.”

Bucky smiled. “Any time, kid. Now go find one of your other uncles, I'm trying to finish my damn book.”

As Peter left in search of Clint for fashion advice, Bucky smiled and silently wished the kid the best of luck. He was _so_ glad he and Steve weren’t that age anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to AO3 guest Maya for the awesome fic prompt!!
> 
> Got an idea for a fic? A prompt you'd like to see? Either leave a comment on this fic OR go to my [tumblr ask box](http://halfway-punk-rock.tumblr.com/ask) and leave it for me! I'd love to hear them!!!


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